Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute talk from 1995, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen tackles a central paradox in Buddhist compassion practice: why do we feel deep compassion for loved ones but resent or disregard enemies and strangers? He then presents the classical Buddhist remedies step by step: recognizing all beings as our mothers from past lives, contemplating dependent arising to see how our survival rests entirely on others’ kindness, and developing special insight into our personal responsibility to help them all. The second half shifts to karma and rebirth, walking through how positive and negative imprints form in the subtle mind, how that mind continues through past lives into the intermediate state and new birth, and the role of consciousness at conception. For practitioners with some Buddhist training.
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File: 05 ALB.mp3
UUID: ab0186b2-7055-4223-a5f6-1742ad49ac21
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: A Look at Buddhism (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.1 minutes
Words: ~2,698
So tonight, will explain first, he will explain on bodhicitta, the good heart, and how we meditate on bodhicitta or the good heart. And secondly, that Geshe-la will speak then on our past and future lives. And then thirdly, it is still more time than I am speaking on the process of death. So in last teaching, Geshe-la explained that one should visualize many sentient beings around one and then meditate love and compassion towards them. So so those practice of love and compassion should be practiced for everyone, not only some and leaving some, but try to practice the compassion which is known as the great compassion, compassion towards all sentient beings.
And normally, we do meditate on compassion and love. So so sometimes it happens that our our practice of love and compassion, our meditation practice on love and compassion becomes like falling on one-sided, like become becomes that like falling into one sidedness. So so most of us being under control of attachment and hatred, that the way we generate compassion towards others is we tend to generate compassion when we see our close one, our very close one faces sickness or problems. At that very time, we generate this compassion. And beside that, for others, we forget, forget, which is for other animals, we even kill them for our own survival, for food.
So, there’s a big difference in the way we see or look towards other sentient beings. If it is our own, if it is the very close one of one’s heart, or if it is the very close one of one’s health, then the way you treat towards the person is very different and different from that which is that you treat towards strangers. So with the closed one, we all try try or use all these different methods to get rid of the suffering of the closed one and also use other methods to bring happiness to them. We try in many different ways. So, this very wish to bring them in the state of happiness is the practice of love and the very wish to free them from suffering is the practice of compassion.
So med meditation meditating love and compassion towards the close one in normal life, it’s it’s very good. But then forgetting or leaving behind those other sentient beings who are known as our enemies or who have given one some harm, or those stangers or the neutral ones which one don’t know. Like not meditating compassion towards them when they go to sufferings. This is not right? So, when we see our parents or our very close one goes to some sufferings, we ourselves can bear that.
So, the the one reason is that because they are the close one. They are the close one off ones. And because of that, when they go through some sufferings or sicknesses that one can’t bear them suffering. So, in similar manner that we can also think over these different reasons why we need to meditate in the same way towards those who bring harm to one and those of the stranger ones. There are many reasons why we need to meditate on those two.
So, the one reason is that friends, enemies, and strangers, there’s nothing definite. So so it’s nothing definite because this our present mother who is one of the most kind one, one have became our enemies in our past life. So, similar to that, if if the friend of the present day is a friend, then friend of our past past time should should also be a friend. So if if if you want things that the past friends doesn’t have to are not friends, then similarly, like, yesterday’s friend is like it’s same that saying yesterday’s friend is not today’s friend. So so in brief, in short, that all all sentient beings have became our our parents, our our close ones.
So so they are all same being our friends. Everyone everyone had became our mothers. So, they have became our parents, mothers. They have become our relatives. They have become our close ones.
So, they all have become close to one, but then they are different level how they have benefited one. So, as we see the reason that they all are the close one and they all have become our mothers, that one should equally meditate on compassion to all. And that’s that type of compassion meditation of compassion is the great meditation on great compassion. So before one meditates on this compassion, this great compassion, one one had to balance one’s one’s mind towards towards all other sentient beings. So, balancing one’s mind towards all of the sentient beings, which is meditation on equanimity.
And this, in the beginning, it’s not easy to balance this mind towards all sentient beings. But but then if one continues with this this practice, meditation on equanimity towards all sentient beings, then it’s no longer one it’s that one can meditate or balance one’s mind towards all other cherishing equally. So when have well meditated on equanimity towards all of the sentient beings, then the next step is that you meditate, which is recognize try to recognize all sentient beings being your mother. So recognizing mothers, which is also in the how they became our mothers. Yeah.
If not in this life, then they have became our mothers in past life. So in in using these reasons that that meditating or recognizing all sentient beings as being one’s mother. So for some, they might have problems like meditating or recognizing mothers, ultimately living with one’s mother because the present mother might have treated badly towards one and because of that one might find it very difficult or don’t feel like meditating like that. If that is the case then one can meditate on dependent arising. First, meditate on the dependent arising.
Meditating on dependent arising, which is that we all depend on something. We all depend. So we we don’t exist without a cause, and it’s not we are not like created by some other beings. We are not created by some other beings. And same thing, the things that we enjoy, the place where we live, and all the mountains and so on, all also have a cause, which is all have a cause that is in dependence upon sentient beings.
All this came into existence. So like the house clothes that we wear, all these through the kindness of changing things and some might again think that because I work for it and I get paid and that’s how I get it. But even the money that you get paid also is through the kindness of others. Beings. So just an example, the cloth we wear, just the one cloth that we wear, that that has been touched by many many many beings, many many human beings.
Oh. So so because of this, other are very kind. So so that we can for our the highest achievement that we could go through is Buddhahood and then lower than that is those are other high states. To achieve all these states, one to accumulate a positive cause. And that positive cause is accumulated in dependence upon sentient beings.
So, thinking these that that shows that sentient beings become sentient beings are very kind to one. So as we see, they are very kind to one, what next step is that that we have to repay their kindness. So, reaping their kind kindness. We can we can repay the kindness by providing material goods, but that type of repaying, it’s not so sufficient. So, the best way of repaying their kindness is that showing them method which brings them the ultimate happiness or showing them the method which can get rid of all their sufferings.
How that’s the best way of repaying. So, as an example, there’s a big fire in front and one’s own mother is almost falling into the fire. And if there is say, that if the son is next to her, then she might ask for help for the son. So so and then same also, the son will son will help mother, or save the mother from falling into the fire. But then if the son doesn’t help, then it is that person whoever guarded that nature.
So this is example that to that all sentient beings are in the saṃsāra, in the saṃsāra fire. And should also try to free them from the saṃsāra. So, which is they are experiencing the saṃsāra suffering and meditating towards them meditating towards those sentient beings who are suffering, meditating on compassion. And and meditate on love, which is to bring happiness to them. So then so then after that, is this special special insight that that is needed also to generate the bodhicitta, the normal mind.
Intention is that taking responsibility, which is I myself will free all sentient beings in the saṃsāra. That that taking that responsibility is known as the special insight. So these that we just like spent the meditation on equanimity, recognizing all other sentient beings as one’s mother, and remembering their kindness, repaying their kindness, and meditating on love, compassion, and generating this special insight are the main cause the main cause main cause of, what do call, bodhicitta? So so then meditating on these different points and meditating on these different points and generating the bodhicitta within one is like experiencing, the bodhicitta which is like the outer part of the sugarcane. Not the inside, but the outer part of the So the sugar can, for example, like the inside part and the outside skin, both are sweet, but they are differences with the degree of sweetness.
So, gaining experience with effort on this bodhicitta is like the experience you have with the skin of the sugar. So, is like getting a real experience. It’s like an experience of the inner. So these meditations doesn’t mean it’s easily that one can one can, what I say, one can gain these realizations. So so it it needs time and slowly when one continues with the practice, when one has time meditating on bodhicitta, even if one doesn’t have any experience, one leaves imprints in one’s mind and and that that’s something good.
So just keeping the imprint in one’s mind is something very good because once we have kept the imprint in our mind, then in the future life, in the next life, if one to hear again about bodhicitta, then because one has already kept the imprints that right there, like one can one have what is it? One gain some one understands which is one that might have the sign. Just hearing hearing about it one might burst into tears or like all the pores of your body rise up. So that type of sign can appear. So so in short, that one should one should prepare at this present life to bring better better one or good one in our future.
So if one thinks that future life is not me. Future life is someone else and I’m a person right now, not in the future. If one thinks that it is not because one may change this body, but the mind stays the same thing and the mind continues continues and it’s the same mind. So this this is this this explanation is the is the like like instructions or how one meditate on bodhicitta. So so when you when you start meditating on bodhicitta, then in front of one, one visualize one one mother and very close ones and the friends.
And then the enemies and the strangers Visualize all of them in front and then think over the reasons why one feels why one feels very close to the mother and friends, and also think over the reasons why one don’t feel close or distant from the enemy, and also think over the reason one care about these strangers and thinking over these points or these different reasons a meditation. So so to do a meditation here, we won’t have much time, so we won’t be doing meditation today. But then if you if you want to do meditations with with with what has been explained right now, then when you go back to your place, you can meditate meditate on these. Not like all at once, but first first start doing meditation on equanimity and then finish with that and then try to meditate on equanimity for a few times and then later on then you change to the next step and then meditate on them few times. By doing this doing meditation in this way might be might be beneficial.
I guess you’ll explain how one creates positive karmas and how one creates negative karmas and how the imprints of those actions or those karmas are kept on the on the very subtle mind. So so the mind that which perceives these different actions, the good actions and the bad actions, has a continuity, has a it has its own continuity, and one one should one should know that. So the continuing like a present mind right now here that if you look to its continuity, then it is continued from the mind that just before you left from your place? So then that mind has its own continuity which is mind. And then if you look back, then it can go up to all the way up to the newly born child, baby’s mind.
When you were a baby. So one of the reason that this mind have its own continuity from the very childhood is that we remember our childhood, like what games we play and so on. So that baby’s mind has also its own continuity which was in mother’s womb and that baby in mother’s womb has also its one continuity just at the very first moment of conception. So so then that that the mind of the time of conception, has its own continuity from its own past lives. For example, we here as a human, but before we took this rebirth, we we went and we were in intermediate state.
So the inter intermediate So that being, that intermediate state being, a human, have the human, if it’s a human intermediate state being, then have a human body shape. They have a human body shape and the shape of the body have a human shape and that body can travel everywhere. In that body of intermediate beings, it can travel everywhere. It can travel through walls and mountains and so on. So so so if if that intermediate being never gets obstructed obstructed by anything, only only thing that that intermediate being get obstructed obstructed is the secret organ of father father and mother.
Only when they come to death, then that’s what obstructs them. So while they are in the intermediate state, they are always traveling, for a place to take a rebirth and the longest that they travel there in that that state is forty nine days. So then at the time when they take rebirth, at that time they see the and then when they see that, then they enter from the mouth or from different holes into the person and then enters or stays between the mixture of the two drops. So so then at that very time, if if the intermediate being is attached to the to the male organ, then then being is born as a male. And if the person, if that intermediate being is attached to a female organ, then that being is born as a female.
So, that consciousness or the mind that enters to the mother’s womb is that, that is not the gross mind, gross consciousness, but it is the very subtle mind and the wind. That is what enters into So, at present, our mind is functioning. So, because of that, the subtle mind is not functioning. But then at the very time of death, when the gross mind stops functioning, then that very time, the subtle mind functions.